anniversary of israel war on gaza
they called for the lifting of the blockade on the hamas ruled coastal enclave
and accused israel of carrying out war crimes in the territory
on december israel launched massive offensive against gaza in bid
to halt palestinian rocket and mortar fire about palestinians and
israelis were killed during the day conflict
on thursday hundreds of people including international activists held similar
protest on both sides of the erez crossing between israel and the gaza strip
among the protesters were small group of bearded anti zionist religious jews
clad in traditional ultra orthodox clothing and holding signs that read
judaism yes zionism no state of israel must go
israel has sealed gaza off to all but limited humanitarian aid since hamas an
armed islamist group pledged to the jewish state destruction seized power
there in june from forces loyal to palestinian president mahmud abbas
football gerrard spares liverpool cup exit
reading england jan afp
steven gerrard was liverpool saviour yet again as the premier league side came
from behind to earn draw away to championship strugglers reading in the fa
cup third round here on saturday
liverpool already out of this season champions league and points behind
premier league leaders chelsea know the fa cup represents their last realistic
chance of winning trophy this term
but they found themselves behind at the madejski stadium when simon church
scored from just yard out in the th minute following good work at the far
post by grzegorz rasiak
england midfielder gerrard however equalised minutes later when his yard
curling shot beat adam federici although the australian goalkeeper view
appeared to be obscured by the run across the six yard box of liverpool dutch
striker dirk kuyt
reading though continued to attack although liverpool fernando torres had
chance to win the game deep into stoppage time only for the spain striker to
head over the crossbar and leave the club facing replay at anfield
rallying dakar fan in critical condition after accident
cordoba argentina jan afp
dakar rally fan was in critical condition after vehicle taking part in the
gruelling event careered off the course and into group of spectators on
saturday organisers said
the accident happened during the opening stage of the event between buenos
aires and here
number of other fans were also hurt in the incident
yemen steps up qaeda fight as top us general pledges support
sanaa jan afp
yemen the ancestral home of osama bin laden sent reinforcements to hunt al
qaeda militants in its east security sources said saturday as top us general
affirmed support for sanaa terrorism fight
general david petraeus the us regional military commander made the pledge in
meeting with yemeni president ali abdullah saleh at which he delivered message
from us president barack obama the official yemeni saba news agency said
security sources said meanwhile yemen sent army reinforcements to the eastern
provinces of abyan bayada and shawba where al qaeda militants have hideouts
and raised the alert level in those regions
these measures are part of operations to hunt down elements of al qaeda
prevent any attempt of response after the raids and tighten the noose around
extremists one of the sources said
security forces were also dispatched in moves announced as obama on saturday
accused yemen based al qaeda affiliate of arming and training young nigerian
man for failed suicide mission to blow up us airliner
in his weekly radio and video address obama promised to hold the group al
qaeda in the arabian peninsula aqap to account for the failed christmas day
bombing of northwest airlines jet heading for detroit
aqap on monday claimed the failed bombing by year old nigerian suspect umar
farouk abdulmutallab in statement picked up by us monitors
we know that he traveled to yemen country grappling with crushing poverty
and deadly insurgencies obama said in his address
it appears that he joined an affiliate of al qaeda and that this group al
qaeda in the arabian peninsula trained him equipped him with those explosives
and directed him to attack that plane headed for america
obama said that because of past attacks by the al qaeda affiliate he had even
before the december attempt stepped up us cooperation with yemen
training camps have been struck leaders eliminated plots disrupted he said
and all those involved in the attempted act of terrorism on christmas must
know you too will be held to account
yemeni forces launched raids on suspected al qaeda targets in the central and
the sanaa regions on december and killing more than islamist
militants
several others were also wounded in clashes this week in western province of
the impoverished arabian peninsula state which lies north of somalia across the
gulf of aden
petraeus praised the yemeni president for the success of the operations
against al qaeda and reaffirmed washington support for yemen in its efforts
to fight terrorism saba news agency reported
he also delivered message from obama related in particular to bilateral
cooperation in the fight against terrorism and piracy
saleh thanked washington for its help and reiterated that sanaa was determined
to combat terrorism with the assistance of the united states and the
international community the saba report said
in the fiscal year us development and security assistance to yemen is
expected to rise to million dollars from total of million dollars in
the fiscal year state department official said wednesday
foreign minister abu bakr al kurbi said in bbc interview on tuesday that as
many as al qaeda militants were in yemen and called for more western help
against the islamist militants
on saturday kurbi said yemen will not allow foreign fighters to infiltrate the
country after somalia shebab insurgents said they will send militants to help
the al qaeda affiliate behind the failed us airliner bombing
football reading force liverpool into cup replay
london jan afp
liverpool faltering season suffered another stutter as they were held to
draw away to championship strugglers reading in the third round of the fa cup on
saturday
liverpool for whom the fa cup represents their last realistic hope of
silverware this term fell behind in the th minute at the madejski stadium
ryan bertrand free kick was kept in expertly by grzegorz rasiak at the far
post and following his first time cross simon church scored from barely yard
out
liverpool though were only behind for minutes inspirational captain steven
gerrard scoring with curling yard shot
but gerrard goal owed much to the run across the six yard box of dutch striker
dirk kuyt which distracted reading australian keeper adam federici
fernando torres could have won the match in stoppage time but liverpool star
striker headed over the crossbar
earlier australia tim cahill ensured liverpool city neighbours everton
avoided the embarrassment of third round replay against third tier side
carlisle by scoring the crucial goal in victory at goodison park
everton last season losing finalists went ahead in the th minute when
back pass from carlisle adam clayton gifted the ball to toffees striker james
vaughan
but carlisle equalised six minutes later when clayton shot was deflected in by
team mate kevan hurst
the visitors places below everton in the english league season were level
until the nd minute when australia midfielder cahill scored before leighton
baines last minute penalty sealed the win
premier league basement club portsmouth the fa cup winners had to come
from goal behind to salvage draw at home to championship side coventry
city for whom david bell scored in the th minute
but on the stroke of half time cash strapped pompey equalised through kevin
prince boateng header
sunderland defeated non league barrow at the stadium of light thanks to
steed malbranque goal and two headers from frazier campbell
stoke saw off non league york
york in match where kick off was delayed by minutes after the visitors got
caught up in traffic took nd minute lead through neil barrett close range
header
but barely two minutes later stoke were level through daniel parslow own
goal
and seconds afterwards stoke striker ricardo fuller headed the hosts in
front before matthew etherington added third goal
relegation threatened bolton who on wednesday sacked manager gary megson
endured goalless first half before beating lincoln th out of england
league clubs
championship high flyers nottingham forest held premier league birmingham to
goalless draw in match where forest robert earnshaw missed second half
penalty
in the all premier league clashes aston villa beat blackburn rovers and
wigan came from behind to defeat hull
villa went ahead through nathan delfouneso th minute header before rovers
saw david dunn penalty saved by brad guzan
carlos cuellar header made it before blackburn were reduced to men when
striker el hadji diouf was sent off for challenge on habib beye
nikola kalinic pulled one back for rovers but john carew last minute penalty
secured villa victory
hull went ahead away to wigan thanks to geovanni th minute free kick
but wigan charles zogbia equalised two minutes after the break and the
hosts comeback continued when james mccarthy scored in the rd minute
zogbia half time substitute then made it three minutes later with
scott sinclair adding fourth in the last minute
manchester city won away to championship side middlesbrough thanks to
zimbabwean striker benjani mwaruwari goal minute before the break
tottenham beat second tier peterborough croatia midfielder niko kranjcar
scoring twice before half time
championship side preston who sacked manager alan irvine last week were the
day biggest winners hammering league one colchester
sunday ties feature cup holders chelsea at home to watford manchester united
in action against leeds and arsenal away to london rivals west ham
british flagged ship hijacked off somalia
london jan afp
pirates have hijacked british flagged cargo ship off the coast of somalia the
eu anti piracy naval force said on saturday in the second such attack this
year
the asian glory was seized late friday less than hours after the indonesian
chemical tanker pramoni was captured in the gulf of aden
all crew on board the asian glory are unharmed the european union naval
force eu navfor said
the hijackers struck as the car transporter passed through the somali basin
roughly nautical miles north of the seychelles and miles from the somali
coast
the ship operators zodiac maritime agencies based in london said the ship
was heading towards somalia and they have had no contact from the hijackers
four days ago another ship operated by the same company was taken in the same
area
international navies are battling to keep key shipping lanes in the gulf of aden
and indian ocean free from pirates who are broadening their area of operation
asian glory was well outside the normal eu navfor operating area the force
said adding that crew were on board ukrainians eight bulgarians five
indians and two romanians
all are reported to be well said the naval force which has its headquarters
northwest of london
the force commander john harbour said the standard procedure for the pirates
is to get the ship back to their stronghold and then contact the owner
the tonne asian glory is one of car carrying vessels managed by
zodiac according to the firm website
spokesman for the firm told afp the ship was hired to south korean company
to carry cargo was loaded with cars and had been sailing from the far east to
the suez canal
we re still in the process of contacting the crew members families we want to
deal with that first the spokesman said
we re focused on the families we ll try and keep everything as well as it
possibly can be with the families some of them are obviously upset and
concerned as we are
we ve had no contact with the hijackers
we re able to track the ship she is heading towards somalia
sailing under british flag it was built in and can carry vehicles
it is metres long and metres wide and can reach speeds of knots
per hour
spokesman for britain foreign office told afp it would keep in regular
contact with the ship management and offer support wherever possible
the singapore flagged pramoni was captured on friday on its way to india and
was also reported to be heading for somalia
the east africa seafarers assistance programme said the crew of the
deadweight tonne ship including indonesians five chinese nationals
nigerian and vietnamese were safe
on monday the british flagged chemical tanker st james park also managed by
zodiac was hijacked in the gulf of aden en route from spain to thailand
it has now arrived off the somali pirate stronghold of hobyo eu navfor said
the crew of include six indians five bulgarians three russians three
filipinos three turks two romanians two ukrainians pole and georgian
the force said
the bulgarians have been able to telephone their families foreign ministry
spokesman dragovest goranov said in sofia
they are in good health and they have food and water he said without
indicating whether ransom had been demanded
international naval powers last year deployed warships in the gulf of aden in
bid to curb attacks by ransom hunting pirates that were seen as threat to one
of the world most crucial maritime trade routes
however somali pirates are now patrolling open waters of the indian ocean
venturing as far as the seychelles and beyond
despite the increased international presence off somalia coastline the
longest in africa pirates have raked in huge ransoms
thanks to state of the art technology huge budgets and ever improving
coordination the foreign armada has thwarted many attacks and captured dozens
of pirates generally equipped with rudimentary skiffs
islamic march plan sparks row in military town
london jan afp
controversial islamic group sparked row in britain saturday after announcing
plans for march to commemorate civilians killed in the afghanistan war through
town known for honouring dead soldiers
islam uk says it wants to march through wootton bassett in southwest england
which regularly sees hundreds gather in its streets as the bodies of british
soldiers killed in afghanistan parade through in hearses
the town which is close to the royal air force base where soldiers bodies are
repatriated has become powerful symbol of britain war effort
islam uk calls itself platform for al muhajiroun radical group now
disbanded which used to be headed by omar bakri an islamist preacher barred
from britain for his views
the march is expected to be held in the coming weeks and will feature symbolic
coffins to honour muslims killed in the conflict
islam uk said on its website that the march would be held not in memory of the
occupying and merciless british military but rather the real war dead who have
been shunned by the western media and general public
it added it is quite extraordinary that those military serviceman who have
directly or indirectly contributed to their death are paraded as war heroes and
moreover honoured for what is ultimately genocide
total of british soldiers died in afghanistan in compared to
civilians in the first ten months of the year according to the united nations
mission in afghanistan
the news prompted anger from local politicians who condemned islam uk leader
anjem choudary
we are christian country and traditional old english market town who honour
very much our queen and country we obey the law and pay respects to our
servicemen who protect our freedom said chris wannell wootton bassett town
councillor and former mayor
if this man has any decency about him he will not hold march through wootton
bassett
the local police who have to approve plans for the march said there was
significant community concern about it adding they could apply for banning
order
rallying dakar results
cordoba argentina jan afp
dakar results after the first stage on saturday between buenos aires and
cordoba
cars
nani roma esp bmw hr min sec carlos sainz esp volkswagen at
min st phane peterhansel fra bmw min nasser al attiyah
qat volkswagen min giniel de villiers rsa volkswagen min
robby gordon usa hummer min krzysztof holowczyc pol nissan min
mark miller usa volkswagen min leonid novitskiy rus bmw
min mauricio neves bra volkswagen min
motorcycles
david casteu fra sherco hr min sec cyril despres fra ktm at
marc coma esp ktm javier viladoms esp ktm min francisco
lopez chi aprilia min david fretigne fra yamaha min jakub
przygonski pol ktm min paulo goncalves por bmw min ruben
faria por ktm min helder rodrigues por yamaha min
football late zigic winner pushes valencia up to third
madrid jan afp
serbian substitute nikola zigic scored stoppage time winner as valencia
defeated espanyol on saturday to move into third spot as the spanish league
season resumed after its winter break
the giant zigic came off the bench on minutes and proved the match winner
firing in great cross from joaquin in the second minute of injury time to go
third two points above sevilla
valencia were without david silva and pablo hernandez due to injury so the
attacking onus fell on spanish international david villa
villa the league top scorer with goals had personal duel with espanyol
goalkeeper carlos kameni who twice denied him in the second half
the cameroon goalkeeper thwarted villa in the nd minute with his shot lacking
sufficient power and was on hand again three minutes later to foil villa
espanyol had not won away in the league since mid september and it showed as
they clung on although luis garcia had chance to put his side ahead in the
final quarter of an hour
when villa finally beat kameni he was denied by the post with his header hitting
the woodwork on minutes as valencia frustrations continued
it looked like valencia would drop more valuable points at home something that
has been their problem so far but zigic sealed late win and tore off his
shirt to celebrate
leaders barcelona are at home to an improving villarreal later on saturday as
they bid to continue where they left off in
last year was barca best in their history when they won all six competitions
they entered and they start with two point lead over real madrid at the
top
chapter has been closed said barcelona coach pep guardiola now there is
nothing more we can win until the end of the season we begin in good position
and we shall see what we can do
real are in action on sunday when they travel to pamplona to face osasuna and
build on their rout of real zaragoza before christmas
their stadium is difficult venue to play in said real coach manuel
pellegrini
don think they will be easy to defeat barcelona failed to do so we must
showcase the spirit we had in december
later on saturday troubled atletico madrid host fading title contenders sevilla
at the vicente calderon
atletico are two points above the relegation zone after disastrous first half
of the season while sevilla trail leaders barcelona by nine points
sevilla are still recovering from the news that year old defender sergio
sanchez who has been sidelined with heart condition
he young kid with splendid future and meteoric career and the fact he
has had this setback now is blow sevilla president jose maria del nido
afghan parliament rejects most of karzai cabinet nominees
kabul jan afp
afghanistan parliament showed its teeth saturday by rejecting the majority of
president hamid karzai nominees for cabinet posts state television showed
of nominees only seven were approved in secret ballot by more than
parliamentarians in process that appears to have undermined the president
authority
of the nominees introduced to parliament seven have succeeded in getting
your vote of confidence parliamentary speaker mohammad yunus qanoni said after
counting finished
the seven ministerial nominees who won approval included those who had been
approved by karzai supporters in the international community as competent and
clean technocrats
those rejected included warlord ismail khan nominated for the post of water
and energy minister widely seen as reward for supporting the president during
the fraud tainted august presidential election
also rejected surprisingly was the only woman nominated to cabinet post
incumbent women affairs minister husn banu ghazanfar who lost out by two
votes
karzai had been hoping to finalise his cabinet before an international
conference in london on january to discuss the future of the country
the position of foreign minister the th cabinet post will not be filled
until after the conference which will be attended by the outgoing incumbent
rangin dadfar spanta parliamentary spokesman hasib noori said
kabul university law professor nasrullah stanikzai said the high number of
rejections showed karzai had not thoroughly considered his list before
presenting it to parliament last month
the high rate of rejections will have negative effect on those ministries
which are without leadership and policy in the lead up to the london
conference stanikzai told afp
on the other hand the high rate of rejections shows that parliament has risen
above internecine considerations that have plagued afghan politics in the past
such as tribal issues and ethnic divisions
ministries without approved ministers would be run by deputy ministers until
nominees were approved he said
approved were defence agriculture interior finance education culture and
mines and industries
under the constitution rejected nominees cannot be put forward again for the
same post parliamentary spokesman noori said adding parliament will begin its
day winter recess on january leaving little or no time for karzai to
present fresh list
karzai choices were seen as the first test of his commitment to building
clean and accountable government and eradicating the corruption that blights
afghanistan and helps fuel taliban insurgency
western leaders have made it clear the billions of dollars in military and
development assistance that pour into afghanistan now depend on concrete action
against corruption
karzai cabinet choices appeared to reflect the need to please his western
backers while at the same time giving nod to sector of his domestic
supporters regarded as odious to washington london and other nato capitals
the most notorious warlords abdul rashid dostum and mohammad mohaqiq leaders
of two minority ethnic groups who supported karzai in the election and were
expected to be rewarded with high office were not nominated
the international community deploys troops to fight an increasingly
bloody taliban led insurgency
up to more troops are due to arrive over the course of backed by
thousands of civilians as the war strategy turns from battleground tactics to
development and aid
separately afghanistan independent election commission iec confirmed
saturday that parliamentary elections will take place on may
commenting on reports the polls could be delayed because of fraud problems that
plagued the presidential election the iec said security budget and timing
requirements had been met with the help of the international community
in the latest violence five civilians were killed and six wounded when their
pick up truck detonated an improvised explosive device in the southwest of the
country the governor of nimroz province told afp
iran issues ultimatum to west over nuclear swap
tehran jan afp
iran already at risk of fresh un sanctions over its atomic drive gave the west
an ultimatum on saturday to accept uranium swap deal or else it will produce
its own nuclear fuel for tehran reactor
the international community has just one month left to decide whether or not
it will accept iran conditions foreign minister manouchehr mottaki was quoted
as saying on state television
this is an ultimatum
reacting to the statement germany one of six world powers engaged in united
nations backed talks to ensure iran nuclear programme is peaceful said the
ultimatum changed nothing
the situation has not changed german foreign ministry spokesman told afp
the proposal of the international community remains valid iran must seize this
opportunity
the un nuclear watchdog the international atomic energy agency had proposed
iran ship most of its low enriched uranium to russia and france for processing
into fuel for the research reactor
tehran rejected december deadline to accept this risking new un sanctions
but it said on tuesday it was ready to swap its low enriched uranium for nuclear
fuel abroad while insisting the exchange happen in stages
iran is already under three sets of un sanctions for refusing to abandon its
sensitive programme of uranium enrichment the process which produces nuclear
fuel or in highly extended form the fissile core of an atomic bomb
the united states and some other western countries suspect iran is seeking to
develop nuclear weapons under the guise of civilian nuclear power programme
the islamic republic adamantly denies this saying its nuclear programme is
strictly for the production of energy
world powers have been pushing iran to accept the un brokered deal and are also
mulling plans to impose fresh un sanctions against it for dismissing the year
end deadline
on wednesday us state department spokesman darby holladay said the west would
still focus on dual track policy regarding the islamic republic
even as we leave the door open to engagement world powers agree that iran
will pay the consequences if it does not meet its international nuclear
obligations darby told afp
the un security council five permanent members the united states russia
china france and britain plus germany are in the process of considering
next steps consistent with our dual track policy he said
un diplomatic source in new york has said preliminary work on drafting
sanctions resolution was likely to begin in mid january
iran defiant ultimatum comes as the country faces its worst domestic crisis
whereby protesters against ahmadinejad june re election have been harshly
confronted by the authorities
the washington post said on wednesday the united states was weighing targeted
sanctions against members of tehran government as it hardens its line towards
iran after bloody crackdowns on protests
but italian foreign minister franco frattini told corriere della sera newspaper
on saturday that europe must not isolate iran over human rights stressing
tehran role in negotiating world conflicts
we must not burn every bridge with iran because iran is key figure for the
afghan crisis for the crisis in the middle east and over the very sensitive
nuclear question frattini said
we must act so that iran has positive influence on all these issues so
that it is strength it is respected and not concern frattini said iran
has the right to be civil nuclear power not military one
football spanish league table
madrid jan afp
spanish league table after saturday early match played won drawn lost
goals for goals against points
barcelona
real madrid
valencia
sevilla
real mallorca
deportivo la coruna
athletic bilbao
getafe
villarreal
sporting gijon
valladolid
osasuna
espanyol
tenerife
atletico madrid
racing santander
almeria
malaga
real zaragoza
xerez
football collated english fa cup results
london jan afp
collated english fa cup results on saturday
rd rd
aston villa delfouneso cuellar carew pen blackburn kalinic
blackpool ormerod ipswich colback garvan
bolton swaibu og lee cahill davies lincoln
everton vaughan cahill baines pen carlisle hurst
fulham zamora swindon
huddersfield west bromwich dorrans wood
leicester king guessan swansea cotterill
middlesbrough manchester city benjani
millwall grabban derby commons
milton keynes dons morgan burnley alexander pen fletcher
nottingham forest birmingham
plymouth newcastle
portsmouth boateng coventry bell
preston brown sedgwick parkin pen williams og carter
colchester
reading church liverpool gerrard
scunthorpe hayes barnsley
sheffield wednesday hill og crystal palace danns andrew
southampton lambert luton
stoke parslow og fuller etherington york barrett
sunderland malbranque campbell barrow
torquay brighton crofts
tottenham kranjcar defoe keane pen peterborough
